Recommendation: My pride and joy...

[Ekallday]

1. What kind of vehicle you have
It is a 1996 Honda Civic with a jdm b16a2 swapped from a 99-00' Civic Si the motor has about 60k miles on it.
2. What your owner's manual says -- not just viscosity, but certifications (look for acronyms like API SM, ILSAC GF-4, etc.) and change intervals as well
These are not numbers that I have access to as this is a swapped motor, but it is a 5w30
3. Where you live
I live in south eastern wisconsin, I drive all the months that there is not snow on the ground, temps probably range from 20degrees F to 100degrees F in the weather I am driving-- in the winter months the far is stored outside under an all weather cover.
4. How you drive (easy? hard? fast? slow?)
I drive in a mixed manner, ranging from hard and fast to easy and slow.
5. What your daily drive is like (short trips? long trips? city? highway?)
My daily drive is a few short trips with maybe 30mins of straight cruise time each night.
Weekly I take a highway trip to and from Milwaukee (45min trip each way) for a couple races.
6. Whether your car has any known problems
As far as I know the only problem I've ever had with my car is broken axles =p

On a added note; what filter would be recommended as well? I've heard fantastic things about k&n and Mobil 1 as far as oil filters go...


Currently I am running 5w30 royal purple motor oil.


Thanks for any thoughts, opinions, and/or recommendations!

 

[HTSS_TR]

I would use conventional oil 5W30 in winter and 10W30 in summer, Pennzoil conventional is very good conventional oil for reasonable cost and can be bought at Walmart in 5 quart jugs.

For oil filter, Purolator Pure One in either size PL14459 or PL14610 will be good for up to 10-12k miles or 1 year.

Summary: Do 2 oil changes a year, one in OCT-NOV and another in Apr-May. Change oil filter on second oil change or every oil change is up to you.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I would use conventional oil 5W30 in winter and 10W30 in summer, Pennzoil conventional is very good conventional oil for reasonable cost and can be bought at Walmart in 5 quart jugs.

For oil filter, Purolator Pure One in either size PL14459 or PL14610 will be good for up to 10-12k miles or 1 year.

Summary: Do 2 oil changes a year, one in OCT-NOV and another in Apr-May. Change oil filter on second oil change or every oil change is up to you.


Can't argue with this... Excellent points!

 

[Jim 5]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I would use conventional oil 5W30 in winter and 10W30 in summer, Pennzoil conventional is very good conventional oil for reasonable cost and can be bought at Walmart in 5 quart jugs.

For oil filter, Purolator Pure One in either size PL14459 or PL14610 will be good for up to 10-12k miles or 1 year.

Summary: Do 2 oil changes a year, one in OCT-NOV and another in Apr-May. Change oil filter on second oil change or every oil change is up to you.


Can't argue with this... Excellent points!

I'd do the same thing, but based on my winter/summer used oil analysis, I'd do 5 months winter OCI and 7 months summer OCI.

 

[HTSS_TR]

OP said "I drive all the months that there is not snow on the ground", this means he already driving somewhat less in winter months comparing with summer months. Otherwise, the idea of short OCI in winter and longer in summer is very good recommendation for drivers in the snow/cold belt.

 

[JSRT4]

I would seriously consider a 0w30, you can run it all year long if needed , but it should be at least run in winter. The vast majority of engine wear is at start up and even more at extreme cold start-up. I'd bet you would have far less engine wear running a 0w-30, you get proper viscosity at hot engine temperature with fast superior flow at cold temps. Getting oil to flow quicker is the key to reduced engine wear. Once the engine is running at proper temps it isn't experiencing much wear, your biggest benefit is getting flow at cold temps. Wisconsin gets some pretty nasty winter temps, even worse than we get in our parts.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: JSRT4
I would seriously consider a 0w30, you can run it all year long if needed , but it should be at least run in winter. The vast majority of engine wear is at start up and even more at extreme cold start-up. I'd bet you would have far less engine wear running a 0w-30, you get proper viscosity at hot engine temperature with fast superior flow at cold temps. Getting oil to flow quicker is the key to reduced engine wear. Once the engine is running at proper temps it isn't experiencing much wear, your biggest benefit is getting flow at cold temps. Wisconsin gets some pretty nasty winter temps, even worse than we get in our parts.


Lets review (again since the post above yours did the same)

Quote:
I drive all the months that there is not snow on the ground, temps probably range from 20degrees F to 100degrees F in the weather I am driving


0w-30 is not going to do him anything except cost more. No more wear than a 5w30 or 5w-20.

How do vehicles go 200,300 and more THOUSAND miles with no issues with all the wear that they must be getting since VERY FEW vehicles run a 0w-x oil?

 

[fdcg27]

Since this is your pride and joy, give it something a little better than basic SM/SN dino.
How about PP, Ultra, or Edge?
Since you'll only need to change a couple of times a year, a cheaper oil is not going to yield any significant savings.
You might even try GC, as I have in both of my current Hondas.
This is a fairly thick thirty, and has higher HTHS than your engine really requires, but it is very smooth and quiet, and won't hurt fuel economy enough that you'll notice.
By the way, I don't think anyone has welcomed you to the site.
I'm glad to see a new member.
I lurked here for years before assuming my current screen name, and there is so much to learn from the knowledge and experience of other members.
Welcome to the site!

 

[JGR]

+1

 

[Dave Hess]

Its a Civic, just use any 5w30 conventional oil and you will be just fine.

I used conventional 10w30 oil in our old 1998 Civic cause I found about a bunch on clearance and used it instead of 5w30.

 

[901Memphis]

The Royal Purple is a little expensive unless your getting it on sale with a filter or something but i would think if its your pride and joy and you went to all the cost of swapping the motor you would want to keep it nice and clean with a quality synthetic. The Royal Purple is still a fine oil its just the cost that always throws me off.

I am a fan of Royal Purple filters though, they have a very beefy construction as well as flow and filtering ability, but @ $15 per filter i just keep using my Pureones.

Pennzoil Ultra should be fairly comparable with Royal Purple at a cheaper cost considering you can get it at my walmart in 5+ quart jugs for about $25-28

Also consider German Castrol Syntec 0w30 "European Formula". They have it on special at my pep boys for around $30 with any Pureone filter which makes the price per quart reasonable.

Can't argue with Pureone filters, although the K&N/Mobil 1 are top filters too but the Pureone is the better value.

 

[Jim 5]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
OP said "I drive all the months that there is not snow on the ground", this means he already driving somewhat less in winter months comparing with summer months. Otherwise, the idea of short OCI in winter and longer in summer is very good recommendation for drivers in the snow/cold belt.


Oh sure, there you go actually answering the question that was asked! I guess I could be more helpful if I did that!

Like my dad always said, "Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind's made up."